The festival has been bringing films from the new EU member states to Edinburgh since 2007. This year the focus is put on contemporary stories set in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Issues of living in a big city, immigration and dealing with shameful past are discussed most often in the presented films.
"Every year it is important for us to show contemporary films and illustrate the state of a region and its diversity. I think that the issues addressed by filmmakers from the East are very relevant to the UK audience." - says Jan Naszewski, the festival director.
Film synopses are available below and on the festival website http://www.neweuropefilm.com/. Tickets can be booked online at http://www.filmhousecinema.com/. Screeners available on request.
Contact:
Ola Moszumanska, PR - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Kirsty Dickson, Filmhouse marketing - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Jan Naszewski, festival director - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Address:
88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9BZ
Scotland, United Kingdom
Tel. (0)131 228 6382
Ticket prices: Full price £6.50, concessions £4.90.
Little Moscow (Mala Moskwa)
Fri 16 Apr, 20:45
Dir. Waldemar Krzystek • Poland 2008 • 1h54m
In the late 1960s, the military moves Russian pilot Yuri and his beautiful wife Vera to the town of Legnica, headquarters for the Soviet Army in Poland. Soon she falls for a young Polish lieutenant Michal, and the two must choose between loyalty and love. Winner of many awards and a box-office hit in Poland.
The Blacks (Crnci)
Sat 17 Apr, 16.15
Dir. Goran Devic & Zvonimir Juric • Croatia 2009 • 1h18m
A pitch-dark glimpse at the horrors of the Balkan War. A relentless story of soldiers driven to psychological extremes by the pressures of the job. As the war ends the elite squad of Blacks have to perform the last mission and face their shameful past.
Snow White and Russian Red (Wojna polsko-ruska)
Sat 17 Apr, 20.45
Dir. Xawery Zulawski • Poland 2009 • 1h50m
A high energy examination of a man coping with relationships and mortality, Snow White and Russian
Red follows Silny, a low level criminal who slides through Warsaw's underbelly, finding himself in various Kafkaesque situations. Adapted from Dorota Maslowska's best-selling novel.
The Other Irene (Cealalta Irina)
Sun 18 Apr, 20.45
Dir. Andrei Gruzsniczki • Romania 2009 • 1h30m
Great thriller based on a true story. When the wife of a security guard Aurel goes on a working trip to Cairo and doesn't return, Aurel sets out on his own journey: a search for his wife amidst dubious bureaucrats, criminal embassies and hateful in-laws.
Slovenian Girl (Slovenka)
Mon 19 Apr, 18.15
Dir. Damjan Kozole • Slovenia/Germany/Serbia/Croatia/Bosnia and Herzegovina 2009 • 1h30m
In Ljubljana in 2008, when Slovenia was chair of the European Union, 23-year old student, Alexandra, leads a double life: she is a student by day and a call girl by night. When one of her clients dies, the police become involved and Alexandra is in danger of having to give up her secret.
Signe Baumane's Short Films
Tue 20 Apr, 18.15
Dir. Signe Baumane • 1h19m
Signe Baumane is a Latvian animator based in New York and a co-worker of Bill Plympton. Her award-winning films are full of absurd and Freudian fascinations.
The Witch and the Cow (1991, 2'40"), The Gold and the Tigers (1995, 20'), Love Story (1998, 3'30"),
Natasha (2001, 9'), Five F*cking Fables (2002, 7'), Woman (2002, 10'), Dentist (2005, 10') , Five Infomercials for Dentists (2005, 3'30"), Birth (2009, 12')
Zero
Wed 21 Apr, 18.00
Dir. Pawel Borowski • Poland 2009 • 1h50m
Twenty-four people with twenty-four stories cross each other in twenty-four hours. In this way the film flows from one situation to the next, with the same people returning several times in stories about jealousy, unfaithfulness, revenge, despair and fate.
Vortex (Duburys)
Thu 22 Apr only
Dir. Gytis Luksas • Lithuania 2009 • 2h22m
The story of the generation who lived through the entire Soviet period is told through the main character: his childhood spent in a village, true friendship, work in Soviet Klaipeda, thrilling eroticism, and a final, fatal love.
I Am Not Your Friend (Nem vagyok a barátod)
Sat 24 Apr, 20.45
Dir. György Pálfi • Hungary 2009 • 1h40m
Shot in just twenty days and completely improvised by Hungarian director György Pálfi , his writers, his director of photography, and his cast of non-professional actors, this unusual drama delves into the dark side of human relations in modern Budapest.
Constantin and Elena
Sun 25 Apr, 18.00
Dir. Andrei Dascalescu • Romania/Spain 2008 • 1h42m, Documentary
In a Romanian village, an elderly couple has been happily married for almost 55 years. Constantin and Elena know that life must end, but are happy with everything that they've had. This love story tells itself in images, and the filmmaker, who is the couple's grandson, keeps himself invisible.
My Flesh My Blood (Moja krew)
Mon 26 Apr, 20.40
Dir. Marcin Wrona • Poland 2009 • 1h30m
Igor, a boxer who has quit the ring because of serious brain damage meets Yien Ha, a Vietnamese immigrant who needs a work permit to stay in Poland. He wants to have a child so that he can leave something of himself behind. They make a deal...
Bank Robbery (Pangarööv)
Wed 28 Apr, 18.00
Dir. Andrus Tuisk • Estonia 2009 • 1h33m
When Madis leaves jail after ten years he wants to get married and stay out of trouble. But when he takes his shy teenage nephew Hannes on a trip, the surprises awaiting them on the path they take will change both their lives forever.
